"Honey, what's happening?" Alicia asked, taken aback.

"I'm okay," Jared replied. His words came out weak and unsteady, and even as he answered her, his consciousness was already slipping away.

Seeing him black out completely, Alicia sprinted over, dropped down beside him and reached for his shoulder, shaking him carefully but urgently. "Talk to me. What's wrong? Open your eyes."

Something felt seriously off, and she did not hesitate. She pulled out her phone and called for an ambulance right away.

Jared had collapsed because of a pneumothorax, and he was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Alicia refused to leave his side for a whole night. While she was sitting beside the bed, his phone slid out of his suit pocket and landed near her feet.

She picked it up without thinking, and her breath caught. The lock screen showed a photo of her.

Alicia froze, shock washing over her.

Wasn't he only supposed to be a stand in?

Why would he keep a picture of her on his phone?

"What are you staring at?" Jared's sudden voice broke the silence.

The sound startled her so badly that she flinched. She quickly looked away and drew in a slow breath, forcing her racing heart to settle. "What would someone like me even be able to look at? Your phone fell on the floor."

She fumbled slightly as she stood, then quietly set the phone back on the table beside his bed.

After that, Alicia lowered herself into the chair beside Jared. "Baby, the doctor said you suffered a pneumothorax. When did this even happen? Why didn't I know anything about it?"

No reply came from Jared. He shifted instead, leaning slightly closer to her.

A sharp intensity settled in his gaze, like he was trying to see straight through her.

Alicia's chest tightened without warning.

Sweat gathered in her palms as her nerves spiked.

Did he notice something was wrong?

"Why are your hands so sweaty, baby?" Jared lifted his hand and brushed it against her skin, as if to wipe the moisture away.

The instant he touched her, Alicia jerked back, fear flashing across her face.

She rushed to cover it up. "It's probably just the heat. The room feels stuffy."

Jared studied her reaction closely, and a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Anxiety churned inside Alicia, and she could not shake the feeling that he was testing her.

Without lingering, she reached for her cane and pushed herself to her feet. "Honey, I'll go look for a nurse."

Turning away, Alicia swept the cane carefully along the floor ahead of her, continuing the act as she moved forward, feeling her way like a blind person navigating the path.

Once Alicia vanished down the corridor, Jared slowly pulled his attention away from the doorway.

...

Alicia reached a quiet corner of the hospital.

A shaky hand pressed against her chest as she released a long, controlled breath.

No matter how hard she tried, the look in Jared's eyes kept replaying in her mind.

Right then, her phone buzzed in her hand.

The investigation she had quietly arranged earlier finally sent back results.

As she read through the message, fury flared in her eyes.

The man who had officially registered the marriage with her was Michael. Yet the groom standing beside her at the ceremony had been switched.

Everyone believed she had married a jobless man with nothing to his name.

Worse still, Michael had taken advantage of his position as her legal husband and transferred all of her assets away.

Alicia clenched her jaw and forced herself to stay calm while she continued scrolling through the file.

The name listed there was Jared Nelson. He was twenty-nine years old, homeless before moving in with her.

Both of his parents were deceased, and he had been raised by his aunt in Grarmont from a young age.

He dropped out of high school, later moved to Orefield to look for work, and after being deceived by a friend into taking on massive debt, he had ended up begging to survive.

Everything in the report painted Jared as someone who grew up with nothing, which made it seem like his connection to Michael was driven by money alone.

"Is that really all?" Alicia went over the file again and again, but nothing new surfaced.

Disappointment settled into her chest, slow and heavy.

Was it possible that he truly was just an ordinary man?

After deleting the data, Alicia tucked her phone away and turned back toward the hospital room.

She had barely taken a few steps when she collided with someone head on.

"Can you not see where you're walking? You just ran into me."

The sound of that voice made Alicia lift her head at once.

Standing in front of her were Kaelyn and her mother, Jennifer Gill, and what they were holding made Alicia freeze. It was a pregnancy test result.

"Alicia, I got pregnant. Looks like I got there first," Kaelyn said softly, satisfaction thick in her voice, even as her eyes burned with hostility. "You've been married to Michael for a whole month now, but there's still no baby news at all."

She deliberately slowed her words, savoring each one. "Or is it that Michael isn't exactly doing his part?"

A violent shiver ran through Alicia's body.

Her stomach twisted hard, and nausea surged up before she could steady herself.

Jennifer cut in sharply before turning her attention away. "Why waste your breath on her?"

Stepping closer, she wrapped an arm around Kaelyn, her expression soft with care. "Kaelyn, what do you feel like eating? I'll make whatever you want."

The warmth vanished the instant her eyes landed on Alicia. Disdain flashed across her face, and she pulled Kaelyn nearer, as though Alicia posed some kind of threat.

Pain spread through Alicia's chest.

Right then, Michael's voice cut through the tension. "Kaelyn."

He walked straight past Alicia without sparing her a glance and reached out to pull Kaelyn into his arms.

Something inside Alicia shook violently.

Jennifer and her husband had taken her in before she even turned two, back when they believed they could never have children.

Not long after that, Jennifer became pregnant with Kaelyn.

From then on, she understood where she stood and never once allowed herself to want more.

Still, she never imagined Jennifer would treat her like a stranger, or worse, stand by while Kaelyn took Michael from her.

A metallic bitterness filled Alicia's mouth as her heart felt like it was being ripped apart piece by piece.

Everything she believed in, her love and the family she clung to, collapsed in that moment.

It had all been a lie.

Jennifer shifted her attention to Michael and spoke without lowering her voice. "So when are you planning to make things official with Kaelyn?"

Her eyes hardened as she continued, "Kaelyn's reputation is spotless. You should deal with any loose ends before you marry her."

Her pointed glance flicked toward Alicia.

With Kaelyn held firmly against him, Michael's expression softened with indulgence. "You don't need to worry, Jennifer. I'll marry Kaelyn no matter what. No one is going to stop that."

The three of them carried on as though Alicia did not exist at all.

Pain burst through Alicia's chest, and her hands curled into tight fists as she fought to breathe through it.

They had no shame. How could they say such things right in front of her?

Was it because they think she was blind?

Anger surged hot and uncontrollable. Alicia tightened her grip on her cane and swung it forward. The impact landed hard, leaving red marks across both Kaelyn's and Michael's faces.

"Ah! My face!" Kaelyn cried out as pain flared across her cheek. Rage twisted her expression as she charged forward. "Alicia, have you lost your mind? How dare you hit me?"

A sharp knot formed in Alicia's chest, but before she could react, strong arms wrapped around her from behind.

"I'm sorry I got here so late, baby," a man's voice said softly at her ear.

At the same moment, Kaelyn lost her balance and fell hard onto the floor.

"Kaelyn!" Jennifer rushed to her side, panic written all over her face. Only after confirming she was not injured did she turn on Alicia, fury blazing in her eyes. "You horrible woman. How could you lay a hand on Kaelyn?"

Alicia tilted her head slightly, her voice steady. "I can't see anything. What happened to Kaelyn?"

"Don't be scared, sweetheart. You only brushed aside a couple of idiots by accident." Jared tightened his hold around her and reassured her, his tone sharp with restrained anger, and his narrowed eyes swept over them with open contempt.

"You useless piece of trash," Kaelyn hissed, her glare filled with hatred as she stared at Jared.

Without raising his voice, Jared spoke again, calm and detached. "I wonder how many people would be interested to know what the two of you were doing in our home."

Shock locked Kaelyn's features in place.

Rather than respond, Jared looked away and drew Alicia closer to his chest. "This place is too loud. Let's go home."

With one arm wrapped securely around Alicia, Jared guided her away from the scene.

Kaelyn shook with fury as she clutched Michael's arm, her voice breaking under the strain. "I can't take this anymore. How long are you going to keep lying to Alicia?"

Jennifer let out a harsh laugh, contempt clear in every word. "I never should have taken that woman in. Because of her, Kaelyn is carrying your child without even a proper marriage. Say something already."

Michael stayed silent, and both women fixed their eyes on him, waiting.

His gaze lingered on the figures growing smaller in the distance, tension creasing his brow. Only when Kaelyn tugged at him impatiently did he snap back. After a pause, he spoke at last. "Please don't be mad, Jennifer. I care about Kaelyn too much to leave her without a marriage by my side."

Every word carried over to Alicia.

Tears gathered before she could stop them, spilling down despite her effort to hold them back.

In that instant, clarity struck her hard. Family or love, none of it had ever truly belonged to her. It had all been something she imagined on her own.

Worried she might make a sound, Alicia clamped down on her lower lip until pain flared. Her nails dug sharply into her palm.

Jared noticed the blood at once, and a dangerous chill settled in his eyes.

Without giving her room to resist, he tightened his grip and led her back toward his hospital room, steady and unyielding.

"Does your hand hurt?" Jared asked quietly, his gaze dropping to her palm stained with blood.

Alicia gathered her courage, reached out, and caught hold of his sleeve before lifting her face toward him. "Jared."

A sharp glint flashed through his narrowed eyes as his voice dropped. "You can see again?"

"That's right." Alicia's palms slicked with sweat as she sank her teeth into her lower lip. "Jared, I know Michael hired you to pose as him."

A subtle curve tugged at Jared's mouth while his steady eyes lingered on her face. "And when did you put that together?"

"Yesterday." Her brows knit tightly, unease sharpening her voice. "Then who are you really, and what do you want from me?"

At her question, Jared let out a low, amused laugh.

Casually, he shifted his weight and leaned back against the wall, an indolent smile hovering at the corners of his lips. "Me? I'm just a nobody scraping by."

Fixing him with an unblinking stare, Alicia retorted, "That's a lie."

Everything about him—the way he carried himself, the quiet pressure in his presence—screamed authority far beyond anything her investigation had uncovered.

Yet with Jared refusing to reveal a single truth, she found herself backed into a corner, with no move left to play.

Drawing in a steady breath, Alicia buried the odd flutter in her chest and pushed a proposal forward. "I don't know why you stepped in for me back there, but whatever Michael offered you, I'll pay twice as much. All I need is for you to just keep acting like my husband and do what I say."

A sharp glint crossed his eyes as Jared advanced without warning.

With his height casting her into shadow, his predatory stare pinned her in place, sending a jolt of unease racing through her pulse.

Instinctively, Alicia lifted a hand between them, trying to carve out space.

But Jared caught her wrist, his fingertips grazing her skin in a way that felt far too deliberate to be accidental.

"Alright, I'll play along." A low, magnetic laugh rolled from his chest as he tilted his head. "So what am I today—your husband, or your employee?"

Relief finally slipped from Alicia's chest in a quiet breath.

Yanking her hand free, she fixed him with a cool, distant look. "Keep this in mind! Except when we're putting on a show for others, we keep our distance."

A wry glint flickered across Jared's face as his brow arched, his careless smile carrying the air of someone humoring a sharp-clawed kitten that posed no real danger.

Somewhere along the way, it became painfully clear that she truly no longer remembered him.

By the following day, a routine examination cleared Jared to leave, and the doctor signed off on his discharge.

Once they returned home, Alicia gestured toward the bare floor, her expression unyielding as she laid down her rule. "From now on, that's where you're sleeping."

Casually slipping his hands into his pockets, Jared remained loose and unbothered as he looked at her. "And if Michael shows up without warning?"

A faint curve tugged at his lips as he pressed the point. "Wouldn't it look strange if he realized we weren't sharing a bed?"

Heat flared behind her eyes as Alicia shot him a fierce look, then sliced an invisible boundary straight down the mattress with her hand. "You take that side," she warned coldly. "And don't cross this line."

Before Jared could answer, a sudden ringtone cut through the room.

Noticing her good friend's name on the screen, Alicia knit her eyebrows. She stepped away from Jared and accepted the call.

"Hey, Alicia—did something happen? Why are those investment firms cutting ties with Gill Group out of nowhere?" Renee Mills' anxious voice crackled through the phone, thick with concern.

Alicia replied coolly, her tone steady over the phone, "It's complicated. Let's get a drink tonight—you choose the place."

"Serendipity, then. I'll swing by and pick you up."

Once the call ended, Alicia pivoted toward the walk-in closet.

Before she could take a step, a steady, heated grip closed around her wrist.

She hadn't noticed Jared trailing her, his tall frame leaning in, his proximity instantly oppressive.

One brow arched as a playful curve touched his mouth. "Do you want me to come with you, sweetie?"

That single word brushed her ears like a feather, playful and deliberately provocative.

"You don't have to." Frowning, Alicia yanked her hand free, her face turning glacial. "Don't forget—I'm just your employer, nothing beyond that."

After that, she seized her cane and walked off without another glance.

Amusement flashed briefly through Jared's eyes as his phone buzzed insistently in his palm.

After he checked the caller ID, his expression darkened, and he answered. "What do you want?"

A teasing laugh drifted through the line. "Is that how you speak to your aunt now, you little menace? I've booked a room at Serendipity tonight—get over here."